Gtcotr/ws081022
Psalms 37:12 The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth.
Psalms 37:32 The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him.
Recently I have been reading the autobiography of a man named John G. Paton. He was born in Scotland in 1824, the first of 11 children. He was raised by Bible-believing, Church-going parents who prayed he would be called and used by God in foreign missions even before he was born. He remembers having to start work with his father making socks on the family’s weaving machine working 14 hours each day from the age of 12. He watched his father faithfully go to his prayer closet three times a day and call the family to prayer twice more.
John indeed felt the call of God on his life and in his early 20’s committed himself to his local Church and was given the responsibility to minister in the streets of Glascow to those who were drunkards, prostitutes, thieves, beggars, and the poorest of the poor. He started a Church meeting with 6 people that grew to 600. He served in that mission faithfully for 10 years before hearing a preacher give an altar call for foreign missions to which no one responded. That moment moved him to give the rest of his life to taking the Gospel of Jesus to the cannibal tribes of the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific.
He and his new wife, Mary, arrived on the island of Tanna on November 5, 1858. She was 6 months pregnant. Delivery of their firstborn son went well however Mary contracted a tropical fever and died 19 days after giving birth. 17 days later their son fell prey to the same fate and was buried by John alongside his mother. Life and hardships continued as John endeavored to bring Christ to a paganistic and savage people who were steeped in superstition and idolatry.
John began learning the language while escaping several attempts on his life. His desire was to provide materials and lay a foundation through which the indigenous people of the New Hebrides could understand and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He began translating the New Testament into the language of the Islanders. This was no easy task. The language did not have the words he needed to adequately translate some passages from English to Aniwa.
At one point John found himself without a way to translate the all-important concept of “faith” into an understandable word which was acceptable to the language. He struggled for months wondering just how he could teach this concept to the warring natives. Then, as he was walking along one day, he saw a man lying on a low reclining chair that supported the whole body. He asked the man, “What are you doing?” The man replied, “Reclining”.
This was it, he thought. Reclining with your whole weight on Jesus! If you were to read John G. Paton’s translation of the New Testament, you’d come across a very familiar passage in third chapter of the Gospel of John.
John 3
16 God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever reclineth his whole weight
upon Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.
17 He that reclineth his whole weight upon Him is not condemned, but he who reclineth not his whole weight upon Him is condemned already, because he has not reclined his whole weight upon the only begotten Son of God.
Another remarkable instance in the life of John Paton occurred sometime after John had remarried a Scottish woman named Maggie in 1866 and returned to the New Hebrides to continue with their mission. Maggie and John had 10 children while living amongst the people of the Islands, 4 of which died either in childbirth or infancy. John writes in his autobiography concerning one night in which he and Maggie were in their small hut surrounded by cannibals who had come to kill them. The prayed and watched and waited all night, looking out of the windows at the warring natives readying for attack. However when morning came, they noted that the men turned and walked away.
It was a year later when John got the chance to lead the Chief of that tribe to Christ. After he was saved John asked him if he remembered the night they came to kill him and his wife. The Chief answered yes, he certainly did. “Well what happened? Why didn’t you attack?”, John asked. The Chief replied that it was because of all the men who were with them who were surrounding the place. He said there were perhaps 100 men in shining garments with swords drawn standing around the house and so the Chief and his warriors decided they could not attack without being killed.
This reminds me of the scripture which says: “More there be with us than be with them.” (2 Kings 6:16)
So many good and kind and wonderful people through the ages have encountered and endured injustice, hardship, and heartache at the hands of other people who don’t know Jesus or those who are bent on serving some selfish, evil, or wicked intent. From Queen Esther and the Jews under the evil Amalekite Haman, to the mothers in Bethlehem at the hands of King Herod’s insecurities over the birth of Jesus … when the wicked rule, the people mourn. (Proverbs 29:2)
The prophet Jeremiah asked a question during his time of persecution and trouble that many of God’s children may be asking today.
Jeremiah 12:1 ¶ Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
Jeremiah already knew the answer to that question. Generations earlier King David had written the answer in Psalms 37, and what our posture should be when we face wicked people doing wicked things which cause us trouble.
Psalms 37
1 ¶ Do not fret because of
evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut
down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do
good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in
the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the
LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your
righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
7 ¶ Rest in the LORD, and
wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret — it only causes harm.
Rest … Recline your whole weight upon the Lord …
40 And the LORD shall help the righteous and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
I want to encourage you to be encouraged. When you find yourself with concerns about the wicked and their evil intentions, remember that God is not slack concerning His promises. Nothing is over until God says it’s over.
Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all you ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.
Do not fret because of evildoers. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
By all means do whatever you can do. Simple, yet powerful things such as speaking up, casting your vote, encouraging others around you to do whatever they can and should. Only do not allow anger or wrath to become the driving force in your life. Do not fret … it will only cause harm.
Recline
your whole weight upon the Lord. Put your whole trust in Him and He will
deliver you, your household, your community, you job, and your nation from the
wicked, and save He will save you!
